Over the last couple of weeks, we've brought you several signs that the venture capital industry was softening.

The biggest sign of that locally came a few weeks ago, when a national report revealed that Missouri startups raised just $21 million from venture capital funds in 2012.

In an interview with our sister-site Upstart Business Journal, Denver-based investor Tim Daily summed it up by saying that venture capitalists are tired of being "the dumb money" that entrepreneurs head to when they want to try a crazy idea.

“We're living in a world now where the venture capital investors who have previously been the first source of capital are now looking to mitigate their risk,” Daily told the website.

That is a refrain I've heard a lot in recent months. Not that venture capital funds don't want to invest in tech startups anymore. But they're doing it at later stages, and for less money.

That leaves angel investors and seed funds with a bigger share of the work, getting startups to the point where venture capitalists can stop feeling like the dumb money.